Gainsborough Trinity boss Tom Shaw praises squad's togetherness

Former Gainsborough boss Dom Roma goes close to scoring for Basford during Saturday's game. Photo: Mick Gretton.

Tom Shaw says he is finding his Gainsborough Trinity side’s physical and mental strengths to be growing all the time as the Holy Blues prepare to go to Radcliffe on Saturday.

Their hosts are just two points ahead of Trinity in the table so a win would see Shaw’s men leapfrog them in their attempts to climb away from any lingering relegation danger.

And having beaten Basford United on Saturday at the end of a testing week that saw three games in seven days from which four points were gained, Shaw feels coming through such a period puts them in good shape.

He said: "It was really important for everyone as it felt like a long week but it shows what a group we have brought together over time and there was a real togetherness.

"I’m now a coach that goes into games and I know what’s coming in terms of the controllables like physically and mentally, which is a lovely feeling to have because it means you can get into the detail.

"It was a tough few days for us with the game at Witton which we felt shouldn’t have been played, then at Nantwich where the spirit of the lads got us through the game and nearly got us a point.

"The lads were really professional between Tuesday and Saturday and recovered really well and we had enough quality and legs to get a massive three points.”

Dec Bacon’s 84th minute winner was enough to secure the win over a Basford side under new management in the shape of former Boston United midfielder Mark Clifford.

Shaw said: “We created loads of openings in the first-half but couldn’t quite get that last pass or cross off.

"We then had a bit of a wobble in the second-half which we’ll address as we don’t have a lot of ‘adult games’ in our group and that kind of scenario needs to be cut out of our game as there were 20 minutes where we looked like we could concede.

"When things aren’t going well you have to find a way out of it even if it’s ugly.

"Cameron Johnson and Dec Bacon’s impact off the bench was phenomenal and we showed some real character to get the result.

"Dec’s a really unselfish footballer and he’ll get his opportunities. We had great attacking threat despite several big players missing which is encouraging.”